BEXAR COUNTY, Texas – Testimony in Christopher Preciado’s capital murder trial will resume Tuesday morning after a jury viewed an interrogation video as the case entered its second week.
Court proceedings are expected to start at approximately 9:30 a.m.
In the video shown on Monday, Preciado told San Antonio Police Department homicide detective Jeremy Goodwin he met up with Matthew Guerra to buy marijuana.
Preciado is charged with capital murder in the deaths of Guerra, Savanah Soto and their unborn child.
Preciado told Goodwin that Guerra was “agitated” when he got into Guerra’s vehicle.
He went on to tell Goodwin that Guerra pointed a gun at him, and when he pushed it away, the gun allegedly went off, hitting and killing Soto in the passenger seat.
“He was like this, pretty much like that, in my face, so I go like that, and he pulls the trigger,” Preciado said in the video. “He was going, ‘babe, babe,’ and he still had it in his left hand ... she just started like bleeding.”
If found guilty, Preciado faces up to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Background
Soto, who was expected to be induced to deliver her son, never showed up for her appointment on Dec. 22, 2023.
Soto and her boyfriend, Guerra, were last heard from on Dec. 21, 2023, according to family and police statements.
Soto’s family soon reported her as a missing person. Authorities issued a statewide CLEAR Alert on Christmas Day.
One day later, on Dec. 26, 2023, police said Soto and Guerra were found dead in Guerra’s vehicle at a Leon Valley apartment complex.
On Jan. 3, 2024, Christopher Preciado, who was 19 at the time, was arrested and charged with capital murder. His father, Ramon Preciado, was arrested on charges of tampering with evidence and abuse of a human corpse, according to arrest records and police statements.
Authorities later arrested Myrta Romanos, Christopher Preciado’s mother, on allegations that she tried to help cover up the crime.
Soto and Guerra’s families said they did not know Christopher and Ramon Preciado. Police said the dispute that led to the killings began with a drug deal.
According to an arrest affidavit, Christopher Preciado told police that Guerra pulled a gun on him and that he was able to “manipulate it.” Soto and Guerra were shot during that sequence.
In February 2025, Ramon Preciado was released from the Bexar County Adult Detention Center after his bond was reduced.
Romanos was expected to go to trial in November 2025. However, after the state sought a reset that the court denied, prosecutors dismissed all charges against Romanos.
The case against Christopher Preciado moved forward and was finally set for trial.
The trial is expected to last more than a week. The witness list includes law enforcement officers from multiple agencies, an expert witness and family members from the Guerra and Soto families.
The witness list also includes Ramon Preciado and Romanos, but it is not yet known whether they will be called on to testify.
The judge is not allowing the trial to be livestreamed, but KSAT 12 News will provide continuous updates on the case from inside the courtroom.
More coverage of the Christopher Preciado capital murder trial on KSAT: